Archives In Brief 65 - Colonial Secretary's Correspondence, 1826-1966

• Main series of letters received 1826-1982 NRS 905
• Indexes and registers 1826-1966
• Minutes and memoranda
• Colonial Secretary Correspondence relating to Land
• Published indexes

Archives in Brief 64 provides a brief overview of the history of the office and identifies the major correspondence series. The Colonial Secretary's Correspondence Guide is now online. It is also available in the reading rooms. The guide provides further details on most of the records listed below, as well as additional information on the Department and its correspondence.

Researchers should also consult Archives Investigator and Keyname Search for more detailed information. See also Archives in Brief 104 on How to search the Colonial Secretary's papers, 1788-1900.

Records more than 30 years old are open to public access.

Main series of letters received 1826-1982 NRS 905

Governor Darling and the Colonial Secretary introduced a 'carefully conceived correspondence system' [1] in 1826. Letters received from each Department were filed in separate 'pigeon holes' in a large press, while letters from private persons were filed together alphabetically by name of writer. The letters were registered and the registers indexed.

The registers appear to have been used primarily as an indication that a letter had been received, rather than as an aid to finding it. The in-letters (letters received), after being assigned an annual single number, were filed by provenance (origin) in separate 'pigeon holes' of the press. The indexes to the registers recorded the registered numbers of letters from officers, without giving any indication of the subject. As some departments sent many letters in the course of a year, upwards of a hundred registered numbers might have to be checked — going from index to register — to find a particular letter. Researchers should note that in 1920, as part of a Government project involving these records, the letters received for the years 1826-32 were sorted into registered number order [2]. Previously the arrangement has been similar to that for the period 1833-49 (by provenance).

In 1850 the management of the inwards correspondence system changed. The in-letters began to be arranged primarily in annual single number order within each year. The system of creating 'special bundles' was retained but in most cases the connections between papers placed together in 'special bundles' were not noted in the relevant registers.

In addition, the 'blank cover' system of correspondence became a widely used method of expediting inter-departmental correspondence. The system involved the passing on of a letter received by one department to another department for a report. This method saved the need to make a copy of the original letter and write a covering letter — hence 'blank cover'. 'Blank cover' letters sent by the Colonial Secretary would first be entered in the Colonial Secretary's register of blank cover letters sent and given a 'blank cover' annual single number. The original letter would be forwarded to the relevant department, with the lower right hand corner turned up for the required report to be written thereon. A copy of the Colonial Secretary's minute requesting the report, and a copy of the report in reply would be inserted in the blank cover letter book.

In 1907 the Colonial Secretary's Department adopted an index-register system. The use of index-registers in this way had several advantages. It eliminated the necessity for separate indexing (by making the system self-indexing), and allowed papers of an ephemeral nature to be destroyed 'en bloc' after a cursory examination of subject headings in the index-registers. A further major change took place in the registration of the in-letters in 1922. The new system was based on self-indexing cards and the volumes were used only to record file movements. The file movement registers remained in use until 1966.

[1] Report on the Present Establishment of the Colonial Secretary's Office. Enclosure No. 2 to the Governor's Despatch No. 10 of 27 October 1827. Mitchell Library A1267-11 pp.450-55

[2] NRS 905 A25/496 [9/162]

Indexes and registers 1826-1966

The indexes and registers to the Colonial Secretary's correspondence for the period 1826-1966 are described below.

NRS 922, Indexes and registers to letters received, 1826-1906
Reels 2929-73, 2563-619, 1705; 1901-21 [5/2597-661]
The indexes are arranged alphabetically giving official position or surname and initials of the writer and the registered number of the letter. There is little subject indexing in the early volumes but the need for subject entries gradually led to more being introduced in the early 1840s.
The registers are set out as follows: registered number, number of previous papers (if any), when registered, from whom, residence of writer, date sent, nature of application, referred (to whom and when) and result of application. 
The column marked 'Result of Application' contains information as to the whereabouts of the required papers. The notation 'Put by' or 'Read' or no notation means that the papers should be found at the number shown in the 'Registered Number' column or, for the period 1833-49, in the appropriate last author group. In some cases further registered numbers may appear in the final column, and these numbers must be followed through in subsequent registers until the notation 'Put by' is reached or where there is no reference to later registered numbers; at this point all previous papers including the final letter should be found.
In some instances papers may have been forwarded to other government departments and an entry to this effect made in the 'Referred' column. In such a case the researcher will have to consult the records of that Department if the papers were not subsequently marked as returned in the 'Result of Application' column of the register.
Where a number prefixed by 'M' appears in the 'Result of Application' column it refers to Governor's and Colonial Secretary's minutes registered in the Registers of minutes and memoranda, 1826-1927, NRS 910. (See Minutes and memoranda in the Guide to the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence which must be consulted to determine what happened to the papers.)

Skeleton register, 1826-45
State Records has prepared a 'skeleton register' for the period 1826-45, which should be used when searching the correspondence for this period. This is a finding aid designed to assist in locating individual letters. Entries take the form of listings of all the letter numbers for each year (bound into annual folders) with an annotation next to the letter number indicating where it has been filed (the item number). Where no annotation appears next to the number, the letter has not yet been located. The 'skeleton registers' are available in the reading rooms. If a letter has not been listed in the skeleton register, or is dated after 1845, use the indexes and registers to locate the letter.

How to use the index and register — an example

The following example relates to staff levels at Dubbo Police Station. The register entry - 3176 - relating to additional constables was found after consulting the Index to letters received, Jan-Mar, 1851, [5/2438], Reel 2939 under Police — Dubbo.

Extracted from the Register of letters received, Jan-Mar, 1851, [5/2439], Reel 2577:

Extracted from the Register of letters received, Apr-Jun 1851, [5/2441], Reel 2577:

*The number shown here refers to previous correspondence on this matter.

The letter required 51/3176, is with the later letter 51/3469 in item number [4/2931]. The item number can be identified by referring to the searchable database, which is part of the online Colonial Secretary Correspondence Guide. Item lists are also available on open access in both reading rooms.

The Colonial Secretary answered the letter on 26 April 1851, authorising the employment of three additional constables at Dubbo [4/3861], Reel 2818.

NRS 922, Index-Registers, 1907-21 [5/2615-61]
In 1907 an index-register system was introduced. At the beginning of the year blocks of numbers were assigned to letters which the department expected to receive concerning a particular subject, or from a department or private person. For example, numbers 6000–6700 could be assigned to leave applications from staff. Should these be inadequate further numbers would later be assigned. Two volumes were marked up in this way — one for entries A-L, the other for entries M-Z. The volumes are thus self-indexing with some additional indexing in the front of the volumes.

NRS 922, Card index, 1922-41, and File movement registers, 1922-66 [9/2303-28; 5/2662-95 and 6/5627-64]
Another new system was introduced in 1922 based on self-indexing cards, the volumes being used to record file movements. Files registered on cards A-L were given a registered number preceded by 'A', those M-Z prefixed 'B'. In front of the 'A' section and the 'B' section for each year or group of years are filed cards marked 'Cross References — Subject' (yellow) and 'Cross References — Personal' (blue) which show the registered numbers of the papers. It is necessary to refer to the file movement register to get the card index subdivision number and the number of the card within the particular subdivision upon which the particular letter is registered.
The file movement registers are arranged in registered number order and record the movements of files with references to the card numbers and subject subdivisions in the card register. The cross references are not very detailed for example, personal names, which are the subject of letters, have not been found listed. Researchers can also look directly at the cards, which are filed alphabetically by classification and afterwards refer to the file movement registers to locate the papers.

Minutes and memoranda

In addition to reorganising the correspondence system Governor Darling instituted a system of conveying official instructions to the Colonial Secretary through the media of minutes and memoranda. The difference between minutes and memoranda is not clear, although on the whole the latter were brief administrative instructions on minor matters, while the former were fairly comprehensive and dealt more with policy, with detailed plans and proposals of the Governor and with the more important matters of government. Minutes and memoranda and the Colonial Secretary's registered correspondence were linked together throughout the period under review.
To find a particular letter or minute it is often necessary to consult both registers of letters received and registers of minutes and memoranda. For more information on Minutes and memoranda 1826-1915, see the Colonial Secretary Correspondence Guide online.

NRS 909, Governor's and Colonial Secretary's minutes and memoranda, 1826-1927

NRS 910, Registers of minutes and memoranda, 1826-17 Aug 1927
Reels 2725-2727

NRS 911, Register of Governor's memoranda received, 2 Jan 1826-22 Jul 1829

NRS 912, Register of Governor's minutes received, 13 Jan 1826-22 Jul 1829

Colonial Secretary Correspondence relating to Land

The index to the Colonial Secretary Correspondence relating to Land, 1826-56 is available online to search.

Published indexes

Mrs Joan Reese has compiled the following indexes to the Colonial Secretary's correspondence. The indexes are available in the reading rooms.

• Colonial Secretary's correspondence: Index to convicts and others 1826-94 [Fiche 5557-5559; 5736-5738; 5907-5909; 5955-5957; 5966-5968; 6069-6071, 6127-6129, 6433-6435, 6448-6450, 6453-6455]

• Colonial Secretary's correspondence: Index to letters sent re convicts 1826-May 1855 [Fiche 5912-5914; 5921-5925]

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